Lightning Review: Pizza Perfect

The area surrounding Belmont and Vanderbilt universities is silly with pizza places. Between Wedgewood Ave. and the highway you have more pizza options than you know what to do with. All of the major chains are covered: Domino’s, Pizza Hut, and Papa Johns and even Mellow Mushroom. Plus some regional chains and local favorites like Jet’s, Desano, Soulshine, Two Boots, and Pizza Perfect.

Pizza Perfect has been serving Nashvillians since 1983, making their dough fresh daily and cooking their pies to-order in gas-fired ovens. Upon finding out that I was moving to Nashville, a former colleague (and Vandy grad) implored me to go to Pizza Perfect, saying that it was his favorite pizza ever. While it doesn’t quite register as my favorite ever, or even in Nashville for that matter, Pizza Perfect is blue-collar pizza that gets the job done. Pizza Perfect’s crust isn’t really thin, but it isn’t thick either, it has a crispy texture without being overcooked or super thin.

The menu is a mix of traditional and gourmet, offering toppings such as sun dried tomatoes, feta, and hot capicola in addition to your standard pizza toppings. You can build your own pie, starting with a base of marinara, pesto, or alfredo sauce and then add any regular or premium toppings. Pizza Perfect also offers a few “Speciality” and “Deluxe” pies to choose from, including BBQ Chicken, Capi Margherita, and the Pizza Perfect which we settled on for dinner. The Pizza Perfect is a traditional pie with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and black olives- basically all of my favorite traditional pizza toppings.

The pie came out in about 15 minutes and we were eager to dig in. All the toppings appeared fresh and generously applied. The sauce and cheese were fairly light, which isn’t necessary good or bad, just noticeable that they didn’t dominate the flavor as sometimes happens. Overall, this was a tasty pizza. It wasn’t on par with my favorite, Desano, and didn’t have the unique crust of Jet’s or Mellow Mushroom, but it was a step up from the big three national chains, though not on an entirely different level. The value is pretty fair, with our large (14″) specialty pie and one drink coming in right at $20. Maybe not delivery guy prices, but pretty good for a six topping pie these days. They do run specials and were offering an XL 2-top for $12 when we visited, so be sure to ask if you’re flexible. They also offer a small menu of pastas, calzones, apps and subs along with a selection of draft and bottled beer.

In a market saturated with pizza options, Pizza Perfect has been a stalwart in Hillsboro Village, serving up hot pizza and cold beer to locals and students alike for over 30 years. Others have come and gone, but Pizza Perfect remains. Here’s to the next 30 years of pizza in the village!